Best Free PostgreSQL Hosting Options for Developers (2025)
Neon, Supabase, Render, and self-hosted — compared on storage limits, connection pooling, sleep behaviour, and hidden costs.
PostgreSQL has become the default database for most web applications. But finding reliable, free (or near-free) hosted PostgreSQL for side projects and early-stage startups is surprisingly difficult — providers either have tight storage limits, connection count restrictions, or they delete inactive databases.
Here's a clear-eyed comparison of the best options in 2025.
1. Neon (Free Tier — Recommended)
Neon offers serverless PostgreSQL with a genuinely generous free tier. It separates compute and storage, meaning you pay for storage only when you're actually using it, and the compute autoscales to zero when idle.
- Free tier: 0.5 GB storage, 1 project, 10 branches
- Autoscales to zero — no idle charges
- Connection pooling built-in (PgBouncer)
- Point-in-time restore on paid plans
- Postgres 15/16 supported
Watch out: Neon free tier computes suspend after 5 minutes of inactivity. The first query after suspension adds ~1s cold-start latency. Fine for dev; use a connection pooler or paid plan for production.
2. Supabase (Free Tier)
Supabase is an open-source Firebase alternative built on top of PostgreSQL. The free tier is generous but pauses projects inactive for 7 days — a critical limitation for side projects you don't touch every week.
- Free tier: 500 MB database, 5 GB bandwidth, 50 MB file storage
- Projects pause after 7 days of inactivity (can be disabled on paid)
- Includes auth, storage, and real-time out of the box
- pgvector support for AI/ML workloads
- Dashboard UI, SQL editor, table viewer built-in
3. Render (Free 90-Day Databases)
Render's free PostgreSQL databases expire after 90 days — they're meant for development, not production. After 90 days you're moved to a paid plan or the database is deleted.
- Free for 90 days, then $7/month (Starter)
- 256 MB RAM, 1 GB storage on free tier
- No connection pooling on free tier
- Good option for short-lived dev environments
4. Self-Hosted PostgreSQL on a VPS
Running your own PostgreSQL on a VPS gives you the most control and the best cost-to-storage ratio. A $6/month Hetzner CAX11 (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe) can comfortably run PostgreSQL for dozens of small apps.
- Full control over Postgres version, extensions (pgvector, TimescaleDB, etc.)
- No connection limits, no sleep-on-idle
- Backups are your responsibility
- Requires operational knowledge (updates, monitoring, backups)
Platforms like Deployzy make self-hosted Postgres easier: one-click PostgreSQL provisioning, automatic backups, a built-in database editor (like pgAdmin in the browser), and connection URL injection into your deployed apps.
5. PlanetScale (MySQL, not Postgres)
PlanetScale is worth mentioning but note it's MySQL, not PostgreSQL. Its branching model is excellent for schema migrations but it removed the free tier in 2024. Starting at $39/month, it's out of range for side projects.
Comparison Table
- Neon — Free tier: 0.5 GB | Cold starts: yes | Expires: no → Best free option overall
- Supabase — Free tier: 500 MB | Cold starts: yes | Expires: 7d inactivity → Best if you need auth/storage too
- Render — Free tier: 1 GB | Cold starts: no | Expires: 90 days → Good for short dev cycles
- Self-hosted — Free tier: disk size | Cold starts: no | Expires: never → Best value at scale
Our Recommendation
For new projects: start with Neon free tier. It's the best balance of free storage, no expiry, and low latency. For production apps or when you need extensions like TimescaleDB or pgvector beyond Neon's support: self-host on a VPS with Deployzy for the easiest operational experience.
Deployzy provisions a PostgreSQL database in one click, auto-injects the DATABASE_URL into your app, and backs it up daily.
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